Functionalized aldehydes as H2S and mercaptan scavengers

Abstract

Certain functionalized aldehydes scavengers may be used to at least partially scavenge sulfur-containing contaminants from fluid systems containing hydrocarbons and/or water. The contaminants scavenged or otherwise removed include, but are not necessarily limited to, H2S, mercaptans, and/or sulfides. Suitable scavengers include, but are not necessarily limited to, reaction products of glycolaldehyde with aldehydes; reaction products of glycolaldehyde with a nitrogen-containing reactant (e.g. an amine, a triazine, an imine, an aminal, and/or polyamines); non-nitrogen-containing reaction products of a hydrated aldehyde with certain second aldehydes; reaction products of 1,3,5-trioxane with hydroxyl-rich compounds (e.g. glyoxal, polyethylene glycol, polypropylene glycol, pentaerythritol, and/or sugars); and reaction products of certain aldehydes with certain phenols; and combinations of these reaction products.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A treated fluid system comprising:
 a fluid disposed with the fluid system, where the fluid comprises a reaction product of a sulfur-containing contaminant and a scavenger selected from the group consisting of: 
 reaction products of glycolaldehyde with aldehydes, where the reaction of glycolaldehyde with aldehydes is a polyoxymethene formed by reacting glycolaldehyde with formalaldehyde. 
 
     
     
       2. The treated fluid system of  claim 1  where the sulfur-containing contaminant is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen sulfide, mercaptans, sulfides, and mixtures thereof. 
     
     
       3. The treated fluid system of  claim 1  where the polyoxymethylene has the formula H(OCH 2 ) n OCH 2 CHO, where n is an integer ranging from 1 to 5. 
     
     
       4. The treated fluid system of  claim 1  where an amount of scavenger present in the fluid is a mole ratio of scavenger to sulfur-containing contaminant of 0.1:1 to 3.0:1. 
     
     
       5. The treated fluid system of  claim 1  where the fluid system is selected from the group consisting of liquid hydrocarbons, hydrocarbon gas, mixtures of liquid hydrocarbons and water, and mixtures of hydrocarbon gas with water.